Press Room
4th graders at 3 schools get wired for high-tech learning
4th-graders at 3 schools get wired for high-tech learning
Pieced-together funding allows access to Internet regardless of income.
Fourth-graders at three Charlotte-Mecklenburg elementary schools are getting laptop computers this week in an experiment designed to spark learning and prepare students for the work force.
More than 300 students at Hornets Nest, Oakdale and Matthews elementaries join their peers at Cotswold Elementary in a world of wireless Internet access, where students can sit at their desks and check a Web site as easily as they grab their math books.
And the school system is pulling off its high-tech expansion in tight budget times. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ “e-Learning” effort pulls together donated computers, PTA fund raising, parent fees, public money and cash contributions to provide students with laptops they can use during class, and eventually take home.
This year, the total cost is almost $150,000 for 339 children. Next year the plan calls for 936 students to participate in a $365,000 project.
The project isn’t limited to schools with well-off parents and big-budget PTAs. More than half the students at Oakdale and Hornets Nest get lunch subsidies for low-income families.
“We’ve had lots of school systems talking about (laptops),” said Frances Bradburn, technology director for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. “I’m just impressed that they’ve cobbled together enough money.”
Teachers who can meld technology and academics are the key to making laptop learning work, organizers say.
“The most important factor still is the classroom teacher. A laptop in the classroom in and of itself doesn’t do a thing,” said e-Learning coordinator Rick Rozzelle, a CMS technology consultant.
It’s hard to prove laptops have a direct impact on test scores, Bradburn cautions. But enthusiasts say cutting-edge computers bring a raft of benefits, from preparation for college and work, to enthusiasm that can turn lackluster scholars into classroom leaders.
Cotswold Elementary Principal Donna Cianfrani, who launched CMS’s first laptop program in 2000, remembers a fifth-grader who struggled with traditional lessons but clicked with computers. Suddenly other students were seeking his help — and he was asking teachers for extra work.
One recent morning, Cotswold fourth-graders read a biography of heart surgeon Daniel Hale Williams, then went online to do a virtual heart transplant. Terrence Tate looked for a saw to crack open a patient’s chest while Maggie Robertson used a scalpel to slice the lining around the heart.
The Beaufort County, S.C., public school system pioneered laptop learning in the Carolinas. It launched a laptop program for sixth-graders in 1996; today students use laptops from third grade up.
The biggest challenge is raising money to subsidize the program, said Barbara Catenaci, the school district’s technology specialist. But a University of South Carolina study documented benefits. Kids with laptops had lower rates of absence and tardiness than peers, according to Catenaci, and there was some improvement in sixth-grade test scores, especially for minority males.
At Charlotte’s Cotswold Elementary, Cianfrani saw laptops as something that could motivate her low performers and keep families of high achievers from fleeing to magnet schools.
Cotswold’s Laptops for Learning debuted with laptops donated by Bank of America and a three-year grant from Advantage Carolina, a public-private partnership created by the Charlotte Chamber. That meant Cotswold could provide laptops with no fees, starting with fifth-graders in 2000-01 and adding fourth-graders the next year.
Students keep their laptops out during class, flipping them open when the teacher says it’s computer time. Because all students can log onto laptops at once, teachers can incorporate them into lessons. For instance, during a lesson on government, students might research candidates’ stands on an issue, e-mail for more information and write position papers, Cianfrani said.
When students do Internet research, they must evaluate the credibility of sources — a lesson in analytical thinking, she added.
As Cotswold’s venture flourished, the economy tanked and the school budget tightened, leaving CMS with a dilemma. Cotswold’s money would run out at the end of this school year. CMS was looking for ways to cut its budget. But Rozzelle and others wanted to expand the laptop program, not kill it.
The approach they developed involved business partnerships, PTA fund raising and donations of everything from software licenses to used laptops. Families pay $35 a month to participate — $15 if their income is low enough to qualify for lunch subsidies — and CMS kicks in $715 a month to each participating school.
Starting next school year when the grant money runs out, Cotswold will charge fees, too.
Even at Oakdale, where 65 percent of students get lunch assistance, parents were eager to take part, said PTA President Kim Massey. Donors are sponsoring families who need help paying the monthly bill, but each family must pay something, said Massey.
Many details remain to be worked out, including how the program will expand to new schools. But at Hornets Nest Wednesday afternoon, Stephanie Smith’s fourth-graders were just excited to try their new Toshibas. They ignored start-up glitches and did victory dances when they made connections.
“Are we going to use them tomorrow?” a student called out.
Smith assured them they would.
“Yesss!” several voices crowed.